Clamp assembly

ABSTRACT

For use in a refining tower, a bubble tray having a plurality of spaced clamping assemblies operable from either above or below for releasably securing the trays to a marginal support in the tower or an inspection passage-way section within the tray area. Each clamping assembly includes one each of generally rectangular clamping and sealing members having rectangular apertures therethrough mounted on the opposite sides of the tray by means of a rectangular bolt, produced from threaded square shaped metal stock, extending through the apertures and also through an elongated slot in the tray. The bolt has a rectangular cross section slightly less in width than the elongated slot in the tray and the square apertures in the clamping and sealing members, to prevent their rotation relative to the tray while permitting longitudinal sliding movement of these members between an extended position projecting from the edge of the tray for receiving therebetween either the tray support or an adjacent section of tray and a retracted position for release from the securement position. The clamping assembly is maintained on the tray by a pair of nuts received on the opposite ends of the bolt and which also serve to secure the assembly in attached position upon advancement of the nuts on the bolt.

United States Patent Freeman [54] CLAMP ASSEMBLY [72] Inventor: [73]Assignee:

Darrell L. Freeman, Tulsa, Okla.

Nutter Engineering Company, Division of Heat/Fluid EngineeringCorporation, Tulsa, Okla.

[22] Filed: Jan. 28, 1970 [21] Appl.No.: 6,389

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No.839,437, July 7,

1969, abandoned.

1 July4,1972

Primary Examiner-Tim R. Miles Assistant ExaminerSteven H. MarkowitzAttorneyBeveridge & De Grandi [57] ABSTRACT For use in a refining tower,a bubble tray having a plurality of spaced clamping assemblies operablefrom either above or below for releasably securing the trays to amarginal support in the tower or an inspection passage-way sectionwithin the tray area. Each clamping assembly includes one each ofgenerally rectangular clamping and sealing members having rectangularapertures therethrough mounted on the opposite sides of the tray bymeans of a rectangular bolt, produced from threaded square shaped metalstock, extending through the apertures and also through an elongatedslot in the tray. The bolt has a rectangular cross section slightly lessin width than the elongated slot in the tray and the square apertures inthe clamping and sealing members, to prevent their rotation relative tothe tray while permitting longitudinal sliding movement of these membersbetween an extended position projecting from the edge of the tray forreceiving therebetween either the tray support or an adjacent section oftray and a retracted position for release from the securement position.The clamping assembly is maintained on the tray by a pair of nutsreceived on the opposite ends of the bolt and which also serve to securethe assembly in attached position upon advancement of the nuts on thebolt.

9 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures P'A'TENTEDJUL '4 1972 SHEET 10F 2 FIG. 2

INVENTOR DARRELL L. FREEMAN ATTORNEYS CLAMP ASSEMBLY RELATED APPLICATIONThis application is a continuation-in-part of my copending U.S.application, Ser. No. 839,437 filed July 7, 1969 and now abandoned.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION AND OBJECTS The present invention generally relatesto bubble trays for use in refining towers, and more specifically to anovel clamping assembly for releasably securing the tray and traypassageways within an associated refining tower from either above orbelow the tray position within the tower.

Although the clamping assembly is disclosed herein in connection with abubble tray, it will be appreciated that the invention need not berestricted thereto.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved clamping assembly.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedtwo-way clamping assembly for releasably securing from either above orbelow a bubble tray in a refining tower or the like and adjacent traysections therein.

A further object of the present invention is to provide such a clampingassembly which may be quickly and easily operated between clamping andunclamping positions without interfering with any of the valves or flowcontrol members included in the tray. Included herein is the provisiOnof such a clamping assembly which permits maximum utilization of thearea of the tray for liquid and fluid contact.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide such aclamping assembly which is non-rotatable when moving between clampingand unclamping positions so as not to interfere with any of the valveson the tray.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of such aclamping assembly which may be economically manufactured with simpleparts easily adaptable to various bubble trays on which it will providedependable service over long periods of repeated use.

In one embodiment of the invention, the above and other objects areachieved in a bubble tray having a plurality of elongated rectangularflow apertures therein located substantially throughout the area of thetray with valvemembers associated with each of the apertures to controlflow therethrough. The tray is releasably clamped to a support in arefining tower by means of a plurality of clamping assemblies situatedalong the circumference of the tray. The clamping assemblies adjacentthe rounded edges of the tray, where attachment is with the tray supportshelf within the tower may be of a standard rotating type for attachmentto a variable margin of support resulting from variance in the roundnesstolerance of the tower. Straight-way portions of the tray edge andadjoining tray sections, are held to close margins of tit and thisinvention is more desirably applied in such areas without overlying orinterfering with the contact device pattern on tray.

In the specific embodiment, each clamping assembly of this inventionincludes a pair of generally rectangular clamping members each having asquare slot formed generally therethrough. The clamping members aremounted on the edges of the tray by means of a bolt received through theapertures in the clamping members as well as an elongated slot in thetray extending perpendicular to the edge thereof. The threaded bolt hasa square cross section slightly less in size than the apertures in theclamping members and the width of the slot in the tray so that theclamping members may be moved longitudinally into an extended positionprojecting from the edge of the tray or a retracted position inwardly ofthe tray without however undergoing any rotation relative to the tray.

In the extended position of the clamping members, they receive a supporton an adjacent member of tray, and to secure the clamping members firmlyto the support, a pair of nuts are provided on opposite end portions ofthe bolt for advancement against the clamping members to tightly securethe same. In order to release the clamping members from the support, anut on either or both sides is loosened whereupon the clamping membersmay be retracted longitudinally away from the support for disengagementwith the bolt moving along the slot and without any rotation of theclamping members so as not to interfere with adjacent flow controlvalves on the tray.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following more detailed description taken inconjunction with the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is.a transverse, cross-sectional view taken through a refiningtower and showing a top of a bubble tray including a plurality ofclamping assemblies embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a clamping member included in each clampingassembly;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the clamping member shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a second clamping member included in eachassembly;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view of the clamping member shown in FIG. 4;and

FIG. 6 is a side view of a rectangular bolt produced from threaded,square shaped, metal stock included in each assembly;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the rectangular bolt shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along lines 8-8 of FIG.1 to show a clamp assembly applied to a marginal support attached to theliquid exit weir of the tray; and

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken generally along lines 9-9 of FIG.1 to show a clamp assembly applied to an adjacent deck section aroundthe passageway area through the tray.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings in detail, there is shownin FIG. 1 a refining tower having a generally cylindrical walldesignated 2 and a tray support member 4 projecting inwardly from thewall to which a plurality of bubble trays 6 (only one shown) are adaptedto be releasably secured by a plurality of clamping assemblies 14, 16.In further reference to FIG. 1 exit weir 7 is positioned in a straightline along the liquid exit side of the tray, and releasably attached toweir 7 is a support shelf 10 positioned in the same elevation as traysupport member 4 and projecting inwardly from the wall of the tower soas to support the straight-way edge of tray 6 at the same elevation astray support member 4. In this tray assembly the margin of overlay oftray 6 on detachable support 10 is of close tolerance. In contrast theoverlay of tray 6 on tray support 4, about the circular periphery of thetray, may be quite variable because construction tolerance permitnoticeable differences in tower roundness and consequently such variancewould exist in the position of tray support member 4. The marginal fitof each tray section to an adjacent section is also of quite closetolerance such that the clamping members of this invention, when appliedto these areas of attachment, may also be designed for quite closetolerance adjustment and securement is accomplished by a plurality ofclamping assemblies shown in detail in FIGS. 8 and 9 constructed inaccordance with the present invention.

The illustrated tray is of the type having a plurality of elongatedrectangular flow apertures 11 distributed substantially throughout thearea of the tray with several apertures ll located adjacent thestraight-way edge of the tray to which clamps shown in FIG. 8, areapplied, and also adjacent adjoining tray sections at 12 to which clampsshown in FIG. 9, are applied. Flow through the apertures is controlledby valve members 13 mounted to close and open the aperturesrespectively. Operation of the valves controlling flow through apertures11 is well known and needs no further description.

Clamping assemblies shown in FIG. 8 are located along the straight-wayedge of the tray for releasably securing this edge of the tray todetachable tray support while clamping assemblies shown in FIG. 9 whichare identical to clamping assembly of FIG. 8 but in an upside downposition, are located along adjacent tray sections within tray 6. In theshown embodiment each clamping assembly includes a clamping member 14having a generally rectangular outline and a sealing member 16 alsohaving a generally rectangular shape; the clamping members and thesealing members being formed from any suitable material such as steel oran alloy. Both the clamping member and the sealing member have squareapertures formed therethrough, the aperture 18 in the clamping member 14being formed generally centrally thereof while the aperture 20 in thesealing member 16 being formed generally at the forward end thereof.Clamping member 14 and sealing member 16 are mounted to the oppositesides of tray 6 by means of a bolt 22 which is received throughapertures 18, 20 respectively, in these members and also through anelongated slot 24 formed in the tray adjacent the straight-way marginaledges thereof, with the slot extending perpendicular to the edge of thetray. A pair of nuts 25 are received on opposite end portions of bolt 22as illustrated in the drawing. Bolt 22 is constructed from metal oralloy square stock which is threaded throughout its full length toreceive nuts 25. The dimension of this metal square stock is such thatit retains a distinct square shape after having been threaded to receivenuts 25. The square cross section of threaded bolt 22 is slightlysmaller than the size of apertures 18 and 20 in the clamping and sealmembers 14 and 16, respectively and also slightly smaller than the widthof slot 24 in the tray. Thus while bolt 22 will permit the clamping andseal members 14 and 16 to be moved longitudinally between extended andretracted positions relative to the tray, it will prevent rotation ofthe clamping and sealing members relative to the tray so as not tointerfere with adjacent flow control valves 13 associated with the trayflow openings.

In operation, to secure the straight-way edge of tray 6 to detachablesupport member 10 and also to secure adjacent tray sections at 12together, nuts 25 are loosened and the clamping and seal members aremoved longitudinally outward to receive therebetween support 10 in thecase of FIG. 8 and adjacent tray edge 6 in the case of FIG. 9. Nuts 25are then advanced along bolt 22 and tightened against clamping andsealing members 14 and 16 to move the same towards each other and securethem firmly to opposite sides of the tray and the member to which it isbeing attached. When it is desired to release the clamping members toremove the tray, nuts 25 are loosened and the clamping and sealingmember are retracted longitudinally, with bolt 22 moving along slot 24until the members are released from the adjacent members to which theyare attached. In this retracted position, although the nuts areloosened, the clamping members are still being retained on the tray.

In the specific embodiment shown, reference is made to FIG. 9 where oneof the adjacent tray sections 6 is at a higher elevation than the othersection of tray 6 to which the clamp is applied when the latter is inthe clamped position. Clamping member 14 is formed with a downwardoffset rear portion 15 which engages the top of tray 6 with the mainportion of clamping member 14 engaging the adjacent section tray 6 asshown in FIG. 9. In addition in the specific embodiment shown, theforward edge portion 17 of clamping member 14 is bent upward tofacilitate reception of the adjacent member to be attached. It will alsobe noted in the particular embodiments seal member 16 has sufficientlength so as to cover slot 24 in the tray when the clamping assembly issecured to the adjacent tray section or support member.

lt will thus be seen from the above description that the clampingassemblies of the present invention may be secured to or released fromthe adjacent support members or tray sections solely throughlongitudinal or rectilinear movement relative to the tray so as not tointerfere with valve members 13 associated with the flow controlopenings in the tray. Thus the tray apertures may be provided adjacentthe close marginal edges of the tray as indicated in the drawings toobtain maximum use of the area of the tray for flow control openings andthus liquid-fluid contact. The non-rotating characteristic of theclamping assemblies also facilitates clamping and unclamping by servingto maintain the clamping and sealing members in each assembly generallyparallel to each other at all times. It will be further noted that theclamping assemblies permit them to be handled from above or below thetray.

Although the illustrated embodiment is generally typical, it should beunderstood that a greater number of clamping assemblies may be employedon a single tray as needed. Moreover the specific bubble tray has beenshown and described purely for illustrative purposes only; it beingunderstood that the clamping assemblies 8 may be employed on other typesof trays.

I claim:

1. Bubble tray contact apparatus including interconnected support bodiesand tray bodies, said tray bodies having a plurality of fluid flowapertures therein, a plurality of clamping assemblies located on one ofsaid bodies for connecting the bodies together, each of said clampingassemblies comprising the following:

a pair of clamping members located on opposite sides of a first saidbody in the vicinity of the second said body, said members beinginterconnected for concurrent longitudinal movement from an extendedposition where the second said body lies between one clamping member andthe first said body to a retracted position where the one clampingmember does not face the second said body, connector means forconnecting the clamping members and preventing their rotation withrespect to each other and the one said body,

said first body having an elongated slot, a pair of apertures in saidclamping members, and the connector means include a bolt receivedthrough the apertures in said clamping members and the elongated slot,said bolt having an intermediate portion with a non-circular crosssection the width of which is slightly less than the width of said slotand said apertures to prevent rotation of said clamping members relativeto the bodies while permitting the clamping members to be movedlongitudinally with the bolt through said slot.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said assembly furtherincludes threads on the opposite end portions of said bolt, and nutsreceived on said threaded portions for advancement against said clampingmembers to draw the same towards each other to clamp the first andsecond bodies therebetween.

3. The combination defined in claim 2 wherein one of said clampingmembers constitutes an upper clamping member and the other constitutes alower clamping member, and wherein the lower clamping member has alength sufficient to cover the elongated slot.

4. The combination defined in claim 3 wherein said aperture in the lowerclamping member is positioned in a forward position thereof.

5. The assembly defined in claim 3 wherein said lower clamping memberhas a generally planar shape.

6. The combination defined in claim 5 wherein said upper clamping memberhas a main portion which engages the second said body, a forward portionprojecting upwardly from the main portion and a rear portion offset fromthe main portion in a direction opposite to the forward portion forengagement against the first body.

7. The combination defined in claim I wherein said first body is a saidtray body having a plurality of fluid flow apertures therein and valvemembers associated with the fluid flow apertures.

8. The combination defined in claim 7 wherein a pair of said fluid flowapertures in the tray are situated in close proximity to each otheradjacent the edge of the tray, and wherein at least one of said clampingassemblies is situated between said pair of fluid flow apertures.

9. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said first and secondbodies are adjacent overlapping portions of the same bubble tray.

1. Bubble tray contact apparatus including interconnected support bodiesand tray bodies, said tray bodies having a plurality of fluid flowapertures therein, a plurality of clamping assemblies located on one ofsaid bodies for connecting the bodies together, each of said clampingassemblies comprising the following: a pair of clamping members locatedon opposite sides of a first said body in the vicinity of the secondsaid body, said members being interconnected for concurrent longitudinalmovement from an extended position where the second said body liesbetween one clamping member and the first said body to a retractedposition where the one clamping member does not face the second saidbody, connector means for connecting the clamping members and preventingtheir rotation with respect to each other and the one said body, saidfirst body having an elongated slot, a pair of apertures in saidclamping members, and the connector means include a bolt receivedthrough the apertuRes in said clamping members and the elongated slot,said bolt having an intermediate portion with a non-circular crosssection the width of which is slightly less than the width of said slotand said apertures to prevent rotation of said clamping members relativeto the bodies while permitting the clamping members to be movedlongitudinally with the bolt through said slot.
 2. The combinationdefined in claim 1 wherein said assembly further includes threads on theopposite end portions of said bolt, and nuts received on said threadedportions for advancement against said clamping members to draw the sametowards each other to clamp the first and second bodies therebetween. 3.The combination defined in claim 2 wherein one of said clamping membersconstitutes an upper clamping member and the other constitutes a lowerclamping member, and wherein the lower clamping member has a lengthsufficient to cover the elongated slot.
 4. The combination defined inclaim 3 wherein said aperture in the lower clamping member is positionedin a forward position thereof.
 5. The assembly defined in claim 3wherein said lower clamping member has a generally planar shape.
 6. Thecombination defined in claim 5 wherein said upper clamping member has amain portion which engages the second said body, a forward portionprojecting upwardly from the main portion and a rear portion offset fromthe main portion in a direction opposite to the forward portion forengagement against the first body.
 7. The combination defined in claim 1wherein said first body is a said tray body having a plurality of fluidflow apertures therein and valve members associated with the fluid flowapertures.
 8. The combination defined in claim 7 wherein a pair of saidfluid flow apertures in the tray are situated in close proximity to eachother adjacent the edge of the tray, and wherein at least one of saidclamping assemblies is situated between said pair of fluid flowapertures.
 9. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein said first andsecond bodies are adjacent overlapping portions of the same bubble tray.